 
 Relaxing Families |
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Relaxing Families |
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The I AM Foundation Message Interview with The
Founder Steve, you talk of a new movement in America ... what about this self-help movement for kids? "Over the last 30 years, the self-help movement has focused on healing adults. We must now focus on our children. We can do this by creating positive tools that have made a difference for us (adults) such as books, tapes and affirmations, and gift them to our children. We have to reprogram our children from the destructive language our world has taught them to a more positive "I can do it" and "I know who I am" kind of thinking. This transformation, one that is already happening in some of our children, is the one that will single-handedly change the direction and state of our world. We now need more adults to be educated on this and reach those children around them." Scars of Youth - The Rick Avant Story "At age 9, I was drinking alcohol. At age 11, I was doing drugs including crystal-meth. At age 14, I became a member of the skinheads. At age 17, I formed one of the most violent neo-nazi groups in the country. People were literally scared to death of us. I learned that jail is no fun place to be. Now, I have turned my life around by seeing my actions, seeing what they did to people. My outlook has changed from fear and hate to kindness and love. This happened by searching for my right path. I found the spiritual path which has been the most powerful thing I have ever done. When I read Dan Millman's "The Way of The Peaceful Warrior", a book The I AM Foundation gives to teens, it totally changed my life. The messages about going with in to find my answers is very powerful. I also have been helped by the "Course in Miracles". Drugs and bad behavior does not mean you are a bad person. When you see yourself differently you act differently. The spiritual path has totally turned my life around." Rick is now an advocate and volunteer for The I AM Foundation, and can be contacted at 858.349.6309. Steve, how does a child become self-empowered? "By repeating daily affirmations, and reading positive books and materials, children are self-empowered and builds confidence. They begin to tap their own source of self-esteem." How does The I AM Foundation promote literacy? "When children read positive books, they are more likely to want to read and the intent is there to learn how. What The I AM Foundation promotes with its powerful and positive books is a reason for kids to want to learn how to read. Children want to feel good about themselves because that is their natural state. So, they will do anything to continue that self-nurturing to know the truth. Learning how to read will propel them forward with confidence and on to the quest to learning how to read more." How does "not listening" by parents and adults affect a child's self-esteem? "When parents and adults "tune out" children they are actually telling them "you are not good enough for me to listen to." A children internalize this message and get down on themselves, often resulting in deep resentment towards the parent or adult for not listening to them. When this happens over a period of time, a large gap is built in the relationship between parent and child. That is when a child will go out in the world to find where they belong, such as piers, groups and gangs. It is extremely important that a parent/adult listen in an emphatic way, without judgment, making it very safe for a child to say anything and be heard. This is the most important way of "connecting" with a child, and elevating their self-esteem." What is the ratio of negative to positive self talk? "For the untrained mind, the ratio of negative self-talk is thousands of negative messages to everyone few positive ones per day. For the trained mind, it can be the reverse. Having thousands of positive messages compares to few negative ones." What are the tools to deal with those negative messages? "Books and products with affirmations that reinforce healthy, positive thoughts are the way to deal head on with negative images and messages. I listened to a speaker the other evening who told the story of his grandfather who whispered positive messages in his ear when he was growing up. This person still is motivated by his grandfather's positive words and cheerleading. The man is 53 years old and has built many successful businesses by his believing that he could do anything and because his grandfather told him so. The positive affirmations used by his grandfather were reinforced by his own repetition of them." "Positive affirmations work, and are vital to a healthy life. Author, Louise Hay, built a multi-million dollar a year business (Hay House) because of positive affirmations. Many of her products are positive, affirmation based. These are the tools to circumvent negative self-talk." What is the bad news and the good news through learning and adult leadership, natural preventative? "Children learn by example. The bad news is that negative adult influences and poor leadership results in children learning negative, destructive self-talk. A child who is condemned learns to criticize himself. The good news is that by displaying positive role-modeling for our children, we give our children someone to look up to and emulate. Children are a mirror reflection of their world and their behaviors grow from there. So in a positive environment a child learns to think, behave and be positive. A child who is told positive things, learns to be self-confident and full of self-esteem. It's really not that difficult." Why is negative self-Talk the "cancer of the soul?" "Children and adults either go outward with their pain or inward with their pain. Negative self-talk is the cancer that effects not only the individual but effects the individuals environment. Whether someone goes inward or outward with their pain, they affect their community ...either positively or negatively. Hospitals and funeral parlors are filled with people who have destroyed themselves through negative self-talk and thinking. Best selling author Louise Hay, in her book, "You Can Heal Your Life", has a detailed chart of specific diseases, which are caused by negative thinking and destructive self-talk. The medical community is slowly awakening to this truth. By reaching our kids early in life, and by giving them the positive reinforcement they need, will prevent this cancer of the soul. After all, negative thinking is cancerous. It is, in reality, negative thinking that is the cause of cancer in the body, in the soul, and in the mind. Kids reach for cigarettes, alcohol and drugs to fill themselves where self-esteem is lacking. These are all items that nurture the negative self-talk into disease and cancer. Abuse is also something that is either internalized or externalized." How does one prevent this cancer of the soul? "Prevent it early and it's easy; getting to it late makes it more difficult to deal with. Like cancer, if you can diagnose and treat it in the early stages of the disease, it's easier to recover. But, when it becomes a tumor, it's much harder to remove and often times life-threatening. Negative self-talk causes illness. Let's get mad at this problem! Negative thinking is the root cause of so much of the world's chaos, illness, disease and problems." Do you have laundry list of other behaviors from the "dark side" beyond drugs and violence? "Other behaviors beyond drugs and violence include...
What is The I AM Foundation doing to address these problems? "The I AM Foundation's mission is gifting transformational books and products, and life-changing events to children and youth. We have seen the results - over and over again - of children who, when nurtured in the truth about themselves, develop a tremendous sense of self-esteem and positive feeling about themselves. Likewise, we have seen the flip side of how negative environments create negative outcomes. Our jails are filled with people who have come from negative environments and, like a genetic disease, this negativity and its consequences is passed from generation to generation. Someone needs to stand up and say "STOP! Enough is Enough!" Let's feed our children with the best information available. Take me for example. I grew up in an environment of negativity from handed down by my peers and developed a very low sense of self-esteem. It's taken me over 20 years of hard work to build myself up to where I belong in terms of how I feel about myself today. My life is a living testimony to the transforming power of positive affirmations and faith to overcome the "negative-thinking" illness. The I AM Foundation reaches out to kids with empowering books that they will remember for the rest of their lives, treasures that they can always refer back to in times of trouble and turmoil. We can't do this alone. We need help from the community. When we do this together, everyone WINS! So lets start right now, this moment. Lets not waste another minute. I need your help so The I AM Foundation gets powerful books in the hands of kids today! The future depends on it." For more information or to arrange an interview contact... The I AM
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